Does CASTLE have a future after fraud allegations? | Anthony Westbury

Ultimately it's the mission, not the recent drama surrounding the organization, that will determine the future of the CASTLE child-abuse prevention agency.

The 10-member board of the Children's Services Council of St. Lucie County, one of CASTLE's major funders, voted unanimously Thursday to put bids out for three core programs totaling $587,000 in funding this fiscal year.

Indian River County did not fund any CASTLE programs this year and does not plan to give the agency any more money in the future.

The Children's Services Council of Martin County plans to discuss its funding with the agency at its board meeting April 25.

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The CASTLE Memory Field outside Port St. Lucie City Hall, as seen on Tuesday, April 10, 2018, is a field of 126 flags representing the 126 children who died from child abuse or neglect in the State of Florida in 2017. CASTLE held a memorial and dedication ceremony at city hall to raise awareness of child abuse and neglect, because even one flag is too many. (Photo11: ERIC HASERT/TCPALM)

According to a report released in late March by the Office of the Inspector General of the Florida Department of Children and Families, Garbarino-May was found to have withheld information about staff misconduct, including misappropriation of funds.

In fact, though, children's services council staff and board members had been aware of slipping standards in two CASTLE programs as long ago as August, board chair Kathryn Hensley said Thursday.

In particular, there were failures in CASTLE's Safe Families and Strengthening Families programs to meet agreed outcomes. For the past five months, board members have been receiving monthly updates on staff efforts to get those programs back on track.

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The CASTLE Memory Field outside Port St. Lucie City Hall, as seen on Tuesday, April 10, 2018, is a field of 126 flags representing the 126 children who died from child abuse or neglect in the State of Florida in 2017. CASTLE held a memorial and dedication ceremony at city hall to raise awareness of child abuse and neglect, because even one flag is too many. ERIC HASERT/TCPALM

Felicia Bruce, of Fort Pierce, walks through the CASTLE Memory Field outside Port St. Lucie City Hall, Tuesday, April 10, 2018, viewing the names and ages from some of the 126 flags representing children who died from child abuse or neglect in the State of Florida in 2017. "Tragic, my heart shattered," Bruce said. "One hundred twenty-six children that weren't protected, weren't nurtured, weren't allowed to grow up." CASTLE held a memorial and dedication at Port St. Lucie City Hall to raise awareness of child abuse or neglect. "We feel it’s important to do this every single year," said Chris Robertson, interim executive director of CASTLE. "For the last 12 years we have memorialized 1,500 children. We feel it's very important to do this, to memorialize those children because they can't speak anymore. This memorial honors those children so that we can speak for them, so we can hope to prevent child abuse every single year." The field of flags at the Port St. Lucie Municipal Complex will remain visible from Port St. Lucie Boulevard at Airoso Boulevard through the week. To see more photos, go to TCPalm.com. ERIC HASERT/TCPALM

The CASTLE Memory Field outside Port St. Lucie City Hall, as seen on Tuesday, April 10, 2018, is a field of 126 flags representing the 126 children who died from child abuse or neglect in the State of Florida in 2017. CASTLE held a memorial and dedication ceremony at city hall to raise awareness of child abuse and neglect, because even one flag is too many. ERIC HASERT/TCPALM

The CASTLE Memory Field outside Port St. Lucie City Hall, as seen on Tuesday, April 10, 2018, is a field of 126 flags representing the 126 children who died from child abuse or neglect in the State of Florida in 2017. CASTLE held a memorial and dedication ceremony at city hall to raise awareness of child abuse and neglect, because even one flag is too many. ERIC HASERT/TCPALM

The CASTLE Memory Field outside Port St. Lucie City Hall, as seen on Tuesday, April 10, 2018, is a field of 126 flags representing the 126 children who died from child abuse or neglect in the State of Florida in 2017. CASTLE held a memorial and dedication ceremony at city hall to raise awareness of child abuse and neglect, because even one flag is too many. ERIC HASERT/TCPALM

The CASTLE Memory Field outside Port St. Lucie City Hall, as seen on Tuesday, April 10, 2018, is a field of 126 flags representing the 126 children who died from child abuse or neglect in the State of Florida in 2017. CASTLE held a memorial and dedication ceremony at city hall to raise awareness of child abuse and neglect, because even one flag is too many. ERIC HASERT/TCPALM

The CASTLE Memory Field outside Port St. Lucie City Hall, as seen on Tuesday, April 10, 2018, is a field of 126 flags representing the 126 children who died from child abuse or neglect in the State of Florida in 2017. CASTLE held a memorial and dedication ceremony at city hall to raise awareness of child abuse and neglect, because even one flag is too many. ERIC HASERT/TCPALM

The CASTLE Memory Field outside Port St. Lucie City Hall, as seen on Tuesday, April 10, 2018, is a field of 126 flags representing the 126 children who died from child abuse or neglect in the State of Florida in 2017. CASTLE held a memorial and dedication ceremony at city hall to raise awareness of child abuse and neglect, because even one flag is too many. ERIC HASERT/TCPALM

The CASTLE Memory Field outside Port St. Lucie City Hall, as seen on Tuesday, April 10, 2018, is a field of 126 flags representing the 126 children who died from child abuse or neglect in the State of Florida in 2017. CASTLE held a memorial and dedication ceremony at city hall to raise awareness of child abuse and neglect, because even one flag is too many. ERIC HASERT/TCPALM

The CASTLE Memory Field outside Port St. Lucie City Hall, as seen on Tuesday, April 10, 2018, is a field of 126 flags representing the 126 children who died from child abuse or neglect in the State of Florida in 2017. CASTLE held a memorial and dedication ceremony at city hall to raise awareness of child abuse and neglect, because even one flag is too many. ERIC HASERT/TCPALM

The CASTLE Memory Field outside Port St. Lucie City Hall, as seen on Tuesday, April 10, 2018, is a field of 126 flags representing the 126 children who died from child abuse or neglect in the State of Florida in 2017. CASTLE held a memorial and dedication ceremony at city hall to raise awareness of child abuse and neglect, because even one flag is too many. ERIC HASERT/TCPALM

The CASTLE Memory Field outside Port St. Lucie City Hall, as seen on Tuesday, April 10, 2018, is a field of 126 flags representing the 126 children who died from child abuse or neglect in the State of Florida in 2017. CASTLE held a memorial and dedication ceremony at city hall to raise awareness of child abuse and neglect, because even one flag is too many. ERIC HASERT/TCPALM

The CASTLE Memory Field outside Port St. Lucie City Hall, as seen on Tuesday, April 10, 2018, is a field of 126 flags representing the 126 children who died from child abuse or neglect in the State of Florida in 2017. CASTLE held a memorial and dedication ceremony at city hall to raise awareness of child abuse and neglect, because even one flag is too many. ERIC HASERT/TCPALM

The CASTLE Memory Field outside Port St. Lucie City Hall, as seen on Tuesday, April 10, 2018, is a field of 126 flags representing the 126 children who died from child abuse or neglect in the State of Florida in 2017. CASTLE held a memorial and dedication ceremony at city hall to raise awareness of child abuse and neglect, because even one flag is too many. ERIC HASERT/TCPALM

The CASTLE Memory Field outside Port St. Lucie City Hall, as seen on Tuesday, April 10, 2018, is a field of 126 flags representing the 126 children who died from child abuse or neglect in the State of Florida in 2017. CASTLE held a memorial and dedication ceremony at city hall to raise awareness of child abuse and neglect, because even one flag is too many. ERIC HASERT/TCPALM

The CASTLE Memory Field outside Port St. Lucie City Hall, as seen on Tuesday, April 10, 2018, is a field of 126 flags representing the 126 children who died from child abuse or neglect in the State of Florida in 2017. CASTLE held a memorial and dedication ceremony at city hall to raise awareness of child abuse and neglect, because even one flag is too many. ERIC HASERT/TCPALM

The CASTLE Memory Field outside Port St. Lucie City Hall, as seen on Tuesday, April 10, 2018, is a field of 126 flags representing the 126 children who died from child abuse or neglect in the State of Florida in 2017. CASTLE held a memorial and dedication ceremony at city hall to raise awareness of child abuse and neglect, because even one flag is too many. ERIC HASERT/TCPALM

The CASTLE Memory Field outside Port St. Lucie City Hall, as seen on Tuesday, April 10, 2018, is a field of 126 flags representing the 126 children who died from child abuse or neglect in the State of Florida in 2017. CASTLE held a memorial and dedication ceremony at city hall to raise awareness of child abuse and neglect, because even one flag is too many. ERIC HASERT/TCPALM

The CASTLE Memory Field outside Port St. Lucie City Hall, as seen on Tuesday, April 10, 2018, is a field of 126 flags representing the 126 children who died from child abuse or neglect in the State of Florida in 2017. CASTLE held a memorial and dedication ceremony at city hall to raise awareness of child abuse and neglect, because even one flag is too many. ERIC HASERT/TCPALM

The CASTLE Memory Field outside Port St. Lucie City Hall, as seen on Tuesday, April 10, 2018, is a field of 126 flags representing the 126 children who died from child abuse or neglect in the State of Florida in 2017. CASTLE held a memorial and dedication ceremony at city hall to raise awareness of child abuse and neglect, because even one flag is too many. ERIC HASERT/TCPALM

It wasn't just St. Lucie County's children's services council that had misgivings about CASTLE programming. Local funders across four counties, including other children's services councils, United Way chapters and Devereux Community Based Care, have been coordinating an action plan to fix the problems.

The OIG report merely brought things to a head faster than it might have without the attention of state government.

"We're focused on children getting services, not the drama of internal operations," Hensley said. "I think we'd likely have been in the same situation (rebidding contracts), because CASTLE was not meeting its deliverables."

However, Hensley did agree the OIG report may have been a catalyst in the process.

Fellow Children's Services Council board member Eric Finkel echoed Hensley's comments. It was he who first spoke at Thursday's meeting about the ongoing problems within CASTLE programs as the prime reason for the rebidding process, rather than the drama of Garbarino-May's ouster.

"I'd spoken with several (CASTLE) board members (about efforts to rectify program problems)," Finkel said. "CASTLE is a valuable entity for children but we were concerned those outcomes had not been up to standard for about a year and a half. We'd been working with their management team to rectify those."

Finkel, who's entering his fourth year as a children's services board member, is the president/CEO of a marketing and business consulting company based in Port St. Lucie.

Because of CASTLE's good work in the past, Finkel said he's committed to keeping a level playing field when decisions on bids are made in late summer.

"If they can take care of internal management issues and perhaps change their corporate culture," CASTLE shouldn't be penalized for past mistakes, Finkel said.

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The CASTLE Memory Field outside Port St. Lucie City Hall, as seen on Tuesday, April 10, 2018, is a field of 126 flags representing the 126 children who died from child abuse or neglect in the State of Florida in 2017. CASTLE held a memorial and dedication ceremony at city hall to raise awareness of child abuse and neglect, because even one flag is too many. (Photo11: ERIC HASERT/TCPALM)

Hensley, chair of the children's services council for the last 18 years, agreed.

"That's never happened," she said. "We've always treated (organizations rebidding) like a new agency."

So, what is happening at CASTLE? Rachel Snyder, first vice president of CASTLE's Governing Board, had this to say:

"St. Lucie County Children’s Services Council has been a wonderful supporter of CASTLE’s services over the years. Certainly, their bid decision is a more-than-fair way for them to ensure proper stewardship of the taxpayer dollars they manage. We understand the concerns they’ve raised, and we appreciate their feedback, as it’s helping guide our exhaustive internal efforts to improve our systems and outcomes.

"We’re just hopeful that when selection time arrives, they’ll look at the adjustments we’re making and continue their confidence in CASTLE’s proven record of successfully saving lives and keeping families together for nearly 40 years."

Hensley said this isn't the first time the council has put programs out to bid out of concerns about performance and other factors.

Hensley remembered issues with a program administered by Planned Parenthood. It wasn't the quality of the program, which taught parents how to communicate with their teenage children, that was the problem, Hensley said. It was the reputation of Planned Parenthood itself that caused complaints — and worse.

"Staff were getting death threats," she recalled, "so we had to do something."

Today that program is administered by another agency.

This flag pays tribute to David, a 3-year-old boy who lost his life due to child abuse and neglect.(Photo11: Provided by CASTLE/For Luminaries)

The mission of the Children's Services Council of St. Lucie County is to improve the quality of life for all children in the county. The council funds programming that reaches more than 40,000 children and families. As agency documents emphasize, that mission must be backed up by full accountability.

So, the council's actions last week weren't vindictive or repressive — exactly the opposite, in fact. They were done in the best interests of all those kids.

And I believe board members when they say they won't be swayed by CASTLE's recent problems when it comes time to consider the bids.

We want the best for all our children and I believe the council's actions will ensure we get that result.

Anthony Westbury is a columnist for TCPalm. This column reflects his opinion. Contact him at 772-221-4220, anthony.westbury@tcpalm.com,or follow him @TPalmWestbury on Twitter.